2004 single by Natasha Bedingfield
"Unwritten" is a song by English singer Natasha Bedingfield. The song was written by Bedingfield, Danielle Brisebois, and Wayne Rodrigues and produced by Bedingfield and Rodrigues. The song was released on 29 November 2004 as the third single from her debut studio album of the same name (2004); it was later released in October 2005 in the US as the second single. In a video for Vibe Magazine, Bedingfield said that her label Epic was wary of releasing the song in the United States due to its upbeat nature, which was different compared to other popular songs at the time.
The song received positive reviews by music critics and was noted as a highlight from its parent album. "Unwritten" was a commercial success in Europe, peaking within the top ten in four countries and topping the music charts in Czechia. However, it was in the United States where it became Bedingfield's breakthrough, peaking at number five on the Billboard Hot 100 (spending 42 weeks in total) and topping the Adult Contemporary and Dance Club Songs component charts; the success was partially due to it being the theme song of the MTV reality television show The Hills. In 2024, "Unwritten" began gaining interest again following it going viral on TikTok, which lead the song to reenter the charts and led the song to topping the Austrian singles chart where it initially only peaked at number 18. The song is often considered Bedingfield's signature song.
Background and composition
"Unwritten" was the most played song on US radio during 2006 as confirmed before her performance at the Concert for Diana, and as of March 2006, was certified platinum in the U.S. The song is Bedingfield's most successful single in the US, along with "Pocketful of Sunshine"; both songs peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100. The song earned Bedingfield a Grammy nomination in Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 49th Grammy Awards and she was also included in the Grammy Nominees album of that year. She lost that nomination to Christina Aguilera's "Ain't No Other Man".
This song is written in the key of F Mixolydian, a mode of B-flat major in which F is used as the tonic note.
Commercial performance
"Unwritten" peaked at number five for two weeks on the Hot 100 and stayed in the chart for 38 weeks, thirteen of those inside the top ten, eventually appearing at number six on the 2006 Hot 100-year-end chart. Estimated sales in the United States for "Unwritten" are 2,731,000 as of June 2011.[2] This was the third highest ranking for a female artist for 2006 behind "Hips Don't Lie" by Shakira and Wyclef Jean, and "Promiscuous" by Nelly Furtado and Timbaland.
The song also proved to be very popular in other radio formats in the United States. The Johnny Vicious and Hani Club Mixes peaked at number one on the Dance Club Play and number two on the Dance Radio Airplay chart, while the original version went to number two on the Adult Top 40 and spent ten weeks at number one on the Adult Contemporary chart. "Unwritten" was not as successful in the United Kingdom as her previous chart-topping hit "These Words", but made an impressive showing on the charts, peaking at number six. It is one of her few singles to peak higher in the US than in the UK.
Music videos
Two different music videos were made to promote the song: one was shot in 2004 in the UK for international release; the other one was shot in New York in 2005 for release in North America. Both versions received airplay in Latin America.
Original version
The original version of the video, directed by Michael Gracey, shows Bedingfield as the cover of a small animated book in a large library as it climbs an amazingly large bookshelf. As it gets higher the shelf becomes more like a cliff, even snowing at the top. At the top the book sees a dove and falls off. As the small book is torn apart in the fall, people pick up the pages and look up into the sky. The video may be seen to elaborate the lyric as an oblique spiritual narrative of striving to ascend (and reach a heavenly dove), while the lyric also reflects Bedingfield's concerns at this time with the process of writing, concerns perhaps more clearly expressed in "These Words", also featured on the "Unwritten" album.
North American version
The North American version, directed by Chris Applebaum, shows Bedingfield in an elevator. As the elevator stops at each floor, she experiences different things, including running into a park from the elevator where she sings to the camera as the sun shines brightly behind her, comforting a crying woman who kisses the wall of the elevator with red lipstick before she leaves, dancing on a street with a group of children as they are sprayed by water, watching a janitor throw away his money and watches, singing with a church choir, standing next to a couple kissing madly, and finding a potential romance with a man (portrayed by Keith Carhill) who enters the elevator and follows her after she exits.
According to a TRL interview, Bedingfield chose to make the scene where she gets wet because while filming the North American version of her "These Words" video it was a very hot and sunny day in Rio de Janeiro. This scene occurs during the second chorus.
Legacy
Bedingfield performed the song at the Concert for Diana. Bedingfield performed this, alongside "Pocketful of Sunshine" in the season 7 finale of the Canadian series Degrassi: The Next Generation.[3] It is the theme song to the popular MTV series, The Hills.[4] Bedingfield later re-recorded another, slower version of "Unwritten" with production team Carney for use in the final episode of The Hills. A 2019 remix version appears as the theme song in The Hills sequel series, The Hills: New Beginnings.
"Unwritten" has heard in the following feature films: Anyone but You, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, Ice Princess, Because I Said So and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. 2006 World Champion figure skater Kimmie Meissner has done several exhibition programs to the song as well.[citation needed] The song is also heard on the series premiere of Ugly Betty.
It is featured on the episode "Welcome to the Dollhouse", from the series Pretty Little Liars. In 2006, the Bratz released a cover of the song on a special edition of their soundtrack album, Bratz: Forever Diamondz.
The song appears in the video games Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Thrillville: Off the Rails and as downloadable content for Rock Band 4, while the Johnny Vicious remix appears in Dance Dance Revolution SuperNova 2 alongside its original video. The song was used for the Pantene television and radio advertisements.[5] "Unwritten" has become a common song used to celebrate graduation due to its uplifting message about the future.[6][7]
The song saw a resurgence in popularity following its inclusion in the film Anyone but You in late 2023; it was subsequently used to soundtrack a number of TikTok videos.[8]
